The Big Story: Join us to participate in Congressional Startup Day this August
Planning for Congressional Startup Day has begun, and now is the chance for startups and congressional offices to join the effort.
On Congressional Startup Day—scheduled for August 18th, with events throughout that week—lawmakers meet with the entrepreneurs in their states and districts who are launching innovative companies and creating jobs and economic growth in their communities. Congressional Startup Day—which brings together startups and dozens of members of Congress every year—is a chance for members to hear from the members of the startup ecosystems across the country that can speak directly to the challenges and successes startups face and the ways that policy can remove barriers and support startup growth.
Engine is thrilled to have Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va), Rep. Young Kim (Calif.), and Rep. Dean Phillips (Minn.) lead as this year’s co-chairs. As Rep. Dean Phillips explained, “Startups are the engines of innovation that make America amazing.” As August draws near, we encourage members of Congress to come together with the entrepreneurs, innovators, and startup founders in their districts and states. If you’re a congressional office or a startup interested in participating in Congressional Startup Day the week of August 18th, please email us at startupday@engine.is.
Policy Roundup:
Student loan debt hinders entrepreneurship. With student loan payments set to resume in October, we’re calling on policymakers to address the student debt crisis. Student loan debt holds back would-be entrepreneurs from launching startups. Especially “as the U.S. emerges from the pandemic, new startups are crucial for economic growth and job formation,” and policymakers should be considering all options to clear barriers for entrepreneurship.
Impending Executive Order a mixed bag for startups. The Biden administration on Friday is expected to issue a sweeping executive order aimed at promoting competition. The order would in part benefit startups, encouraging the return of strong net neutrality protections that kept the Internet a level playing field for startups and limiting or banning the use of non-compete agreements, which would remove artificial barriers to the establishment of new firms and enable talented individuals to found startups and increase innovation. However, the order also has the potential to discourage acquisitions in the technology sector, which, as we have explained, are a “positive and necessary part of the startup ecosystem” as they promote investment in startups. In releasing the order, the administration also highlighted the PRO Act which would, in part, limit startup access to talent, by expanding the definition of employee and reclassifying many independent contractors.
Section 230 is again a political football in Trump lawsuit, Texas bill. Former President Donald Trump is suing Facebook, Google, and Twitter over their decision to ban him, in a move that has been described as “fundamentally unserious,” “a fundraising grift,” and a “quixotic and ultimately empty quest to gut Section 230.” Also this week, Texas lawmakers are considering a bill similar to Florida’s controversial social media law that would make it harder for Internet companies to do basic content moderation. This is despite the fact that the Florida law was recently challenged and put on hold by a federal judge due to concerns about constitutionality. Section 230 enables Internet companies of all sizes to host and moderate content without having to worry about being sued out of existence, and undermining the law would endanger startups that host user generated content and create fewer opportunities for expression online.
Small businesses need better Internet, government watchdog says. A new report from the Government Accountability Office found that the FCC’s current standards for broadband—25 megabits per second for downloads and 3 megabits per second for uploads—are insufficient to meet small businesses’ Internet needs. The report also points to places across the country where small businesses are unable to get even Internet access that meets the FCC’s standard, fueling the long running debate about how accurately the FCC tracks broadband.
India enforces new rules against online platforms. India announced Monday that Twitter will now be liable for user speech on the site after the country’s IT ministry found the company to be in violation of its new rules that went into effect earlier this year. As Engine noted at the time, the new rules will harm the ability of U.S. startups to expand into India, and Monday’s announcement illustrates the risks for companies that host user-generated content operating in the Indian market.
Engine to host event series exploring how startups compete abroad. Internet-enabled companies are now able to reach users and customers across the globe without a brick-and-mortar place of business, but regulations and laws that differ country-by-country impose borders on the Internet and impact the ability of startups to compete. Through this series, Engine will explore with startup founders and industry experts how startups compete abroad, the varying requirements for those hosting content around the world, and the regulatory barriers they face from country to country. Register here to join us for the first event on Friday, July 16th at 12 p.m. ET.
Startup Roundup:
#StartupsEverywhere: Alexandria, Virginia. Hacking the Workforce is a mentoring and support organization dedicated to helping Black, LGBTQ+ individuals develop successful careers in the field of cybersecurity. We spoke with Safi Mojidi—the founder of Hacking the Workforce—to learn about the organization’s work, the importance of diversity to cybersecurity work, and how policymakers can develop better technology policy through partnership with diverse minds that actually work in the affected fields.
Startup Policy Seminar Series: Patent Policy & Your Startup. Join Engine on July 20th at 4 p.m. ET where, together with an expert panel, we will explore topics related to patent policy. We will discuss how patents can impact any startup—whether or not it applies for its own patents. And we will highlight how startups can get involved with policymakers, both to ensure balanced, commonsense frameworks continue to govern patent law, and to promote improvements in patent quality. You can RSVP here.
